Examining the Relationship Between Alopecia Areata and Mental Health: An Investigation of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

BACKGROUND

Alopecia areata (AA), an autoimmune hair loss disorder, can significantly alter a person's appearance and cause emotional distress. This disorder has been linked to anxiety and depression, but most work has been done on either one-population samples or has been conducted using heterogeneous populations, potentially skewing results.

AIMS: We aim to obtain a better understanding of the relationship of AA with anxiety and depression in more finely divided populations based on sex, age, and country.

METHODS

We have accessed data present on AA, anxiety and depressive disorders within the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. We downloaded data from China, Japan, India, Brazil and the United States for males and females less than 20, 20 to 54 and 55 years of age and older. We extracted the prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs) measures as surrogate markers for extent and severity of disease respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated for both prevalence and YLDs for AA versus anxiety as well as for AA versus depression.

RESULTS

We found significant positive correlations of AA with anxiety and depression in females: primarily in China, Japan, India, and Brazil for anxiety, and China, India, and Brazil for depression. Additionally, significant correlations tended to occur in younger females.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates differences in the correlation of AA disease extent and severity with anxiety and depression between countries, sex, and age. This highlights the need for more finely detailed studies to truly determine the impact of AA on mental health globally.